March 29, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ­ - The Illinois women's tennis team returns to its Big Ten road schedule as it travels to Evanston, Ill., to take on No. 10 Northwestern on Saturday, March 31, at 11 a.m., followed by a match in Madison, Wis., against Wisconsin on Sunday, April 1, at noon.

"We are at the heart of our Big Ten Season right now," head coach Michelle Dasso said. " That means we have to be ready to compete and give it our all every time we step out on the court."

A full recap of the Illini's contests against the Wildcats and Badgers can be found on fightingillini.com, following the conclusion of each match.

Fans also can follow the match against Northwestern through live scoring at www.nusports.com, while the live scoring for Illinois' match against Wisconsin will not be available.

LAST TIME OUT
After a week in Texas, the Illini returned to the Atkins Tennis Center on Sunday, March 25 for the first outdoor match of the season against Michigan State in its last outing. Despite a lengthy match, the Spartans pulled out the win, 5-2.

The Spartans started the afternoon off strong, sweeping the doubles point. Although, junior Alejandra Meza Cuadra and sophomore Shivani Dave showed promise early in their doubles match, Michigan State slowly came back to propel MSU into singles with a 1-0 lead. After that, it took a little over two hours before the first singles match was decided on courts three and five, with Michigan State pulling out the wins and increasing its lead in the match, 3-0.

Junior Momei Qu (ILL) battled at the number two spot, pulling off Illinois's first point of the afternoon as she defeated Stephanie Kebler (MSU) 7-6(3), 6-1. Senior Emily Wang turned in the only other Illinois match win of the afternoon, defeating Marianne Eelens (MSU), 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(4), before Michigan State won the dual 5-2.

NEXT AT NORTHWESTERN
In their last outing, the 10th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats fell to fifth-ranked California, 6-1, on Sunday, March 24. Northwestern's enters the match against Illinois with an overall record of 9-4. On the season, Northwestern's four losses this season have come against top-10 opponents.

Northwestern is led by No. 15 sophomore Georgia Rose, who pulled out the Wildcat's lone point in their match against the Bears with a win over No. 13 Zsuzsanna Fordori (CAL). Rose is riding an eight-match win streak heading into Big Ten action this weekend. In doubles, the 10th-ranked duo of Rose and Alexis Prousis pace the effort for NU.

WISCONSIN'S STORY
In the Badger's last non-conference opponent of the season, Wisconsin fell to third-ranked Notre Dame, 7-0. Wisconsin is 3-10 overall and 0-5 in Big Ten play. The only bright spot in its match against the Irish came in doubles, when UW junior Nicole Beck and senior Caitlin Burke won their first match together, defeating Notre Dame's Katie Potts and Kelcy Teft in the number two spot.

Wisconsin hosts Purdue this Saturday, March 31, before welcoming the Illini on Sunday, April 1.

LOOKING AHEAD
Illinois returns home for a four-match home stand, hosting Penn State (4/7), Michigan (4/8), Indiana (14) and Ohio State (4/15) in its next four Big Ten matchups.